Cigarette tobacco feed



Feb; 22, 1938. J. w. LEARY CIGARETTE TOBACCO FEED Filed April 13, 1935 INVENTOR klea/y ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 22, 1938 CIGARETTE TOBACCO FEED James W. Leary, Bloomfield, N. J., assignor to American Machine & Foundry Company, a

corporation of New Jersey Application April 13, 1935,v Serial No. 16,169

20 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in tobacco feeds for continuous rod cigarette machines, its main object being to provide for mixing the short shreds of tobacco, which are formed in the process of shredding the tobacco, with the screened long shred tobacco in any proportion or quantity desired. With this arrangement the short shreds of tobacco are thoroughly distributed among the full length shreds, and there is no possibility of the short shreds sifting out of the long shred tobacco and forming a distinct strata or layer in the cigarette rod.

Another object is to provide means for feeding the short shreds, which are commonly designated shorts, through the winnower of the tobacco feed so that all stems and, foreign matter are removed from the shorts as well as from the long shred tobacco. Still another object of this invention is to so arrange the shorts feed that the shorts can be concentrated to any part of the cigarette rod as desired. With these and other objects not specifically mentioned in View, the invention consists in certain constructions and combinations hereinafter fully described and then specifically setfo-rth in the claims hereunto appended.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a sectional side elevation of a cigarette tobacco feed in combination with a winnower shorts feed;

Fig. 2 is a sectional front elevation of the same, taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional end elevation of a cigarette rod showing how the shorts tend. to be concentrated in the center of the rod; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of the combs on the drum.

In carrying the invention into effect there is provided a source of supply for long shred tobacco, a source of supply for short shred tobacco, a traveling endless belt or surface, mechanism for receiving the long and short shreds from their respective sources of supply and commingling them and depositing them upon the belt or other traveling endless:- surface in the form of a continuous stream of tobacco, and means for showering the commingled shreds from said stream on to a continuous wrapper strip, whereby a thorough distribution of the short shreds among the long shreds of the tobacco showered upon the wrapper strip will be obtained. In the best constructions contemplated said mechanism includes a winnower for commingling the long and short shreds and separating undesirable pieces of tobacco from the commingled shreds, and the source of supply for short shreds may includes; hopper having side walls which may be adjusted to vary the dispersion of the short shreds in" the stream of tobacco on said endless belt and thus govern the distribution of the short shreds among the long shreds of the tobacco showered upon the wrapper strip. i l The various means and parts above indicated may be widely varied in construction within the scope of the claims, for the particular form 'of tobacco. feed selected to illustrate the invention is but one of many possible concrete embodi-i ments of the same. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted to specific details of the construction shown and described. I V 0 The cigarette machine tobacco feed whi'chis equipped with a winnower sh'orts feed as illus trated. herein, may consist of a tobacco hopper 5 filled with long shreds of tobacco, a carded feed drum 6, acting to pick ,up tobacco"v from the 20 hopper in the form of asheet, a refuser drumf'f'l serving to remove surplus tobacco from said sheet, and a comb 8 arranged to engage the corrected sheet between the pinsof the tobacco feed drum. The supply of tobacco in the hopper rests on an intermittently moving belt 9 and theta; bacco is picked from the feed drum and deposited on a belt III which advances the tobacco under a pressure roller ll whichpresses the tobacco upon a carded filler roll l2 fromwhich it'is re moved by a pickerrolle'r l3 and showered through a chute l4. These parts of the tobacco feed are all constructed to operate in a manner"well known in'the art and therefore need no further detailed description herein, as, this type of tog 35 bacco feed is fully'disclosed in PatentNo. 1, 6l7 ,f- 255 granted November 1, 1927 on, the application of J. A. Stein. "j

The winnowing device proper may beiofthe type shown in the above mentioned patent and consists of a rapidly rotatingshaft l5 'adjacent the feed drum 6, a combined picker and fanfast on said shaft and'comprising fan blades I5 and picker pins ll projecting from the ends of said blades, and means for directing the particlesof tobacco propelled by said picker and fanto cause them to be thrown through different trajectories to thus separate the desirable shreds from up; desirable pieces of tobacco and foreignffma'tterl Said means may consist of an adjustable concave 5 element [8 adjacent the periphery of said picker and fan. The shaft l5 derives'its motion from one of the shafts of the cigarette machine ,(not shown). The 'pins [1 on each blade I'Ba'r'e'in staggered relationship with the pins of, adja ent blades, in order to effect an improved picking or disentangling action on the sheet of tobacco T on thefeed drum 6.

In the operation of the winnowing device the desirable lighter shreds will fall upon the forwarding belt l while the heavier and. undesirable pieces of tobacco and foreign matter H will be thrown into a receptacle l8a. This receptacle is in the form, of a drawer which may be withdrawn from time to time to remove its contents.

A supply of shorts S to be mixed with the full length shreds of tobacco T, is placed in a, hopper l3 comprising a stationary front wall 20 and a stationary rear wall'2|,- the lower end of the latter shielding the refuser drum I. The two side walls 22 of the hopper I9 are suspended from their top flanges 23 on bolts 24 (Fig. 2) engaging with any selected set'in a series of holes 25 in the top 26 of the tobacco feedhousing whereby the position of the side walls may be adjusted inwardly or outwardly. The outlet of the hopper I9 is closed by a rotating carded feed roll 21 mounted on a shaft 28 driven from the main drive of the cigarette machine (not shown). The carded roll 21 takes the shorts from the hopper l9 and delivers a fine stream thereof into the winnowing device described heretofore. In this manner the shorts are deposited between the blades l6 of the winnower and thereby mixed with the long shred tobacco removed from the feed drum 6 by the winnower, the latter depositing the commingled long and short shreds M in the form of a continuous stream upon the forwarding belt l0 while the 'stems'and foreign matter H of both the short and long shred tobacco are thrown into the receptacle H3.

By adjusting the side walls of the hopper IS the width of the stream of .shorts delivered by the feed roll 21 can be varied and it may be com fined to any part of the belt I 0 desired, thus con:

trolling the dispersion of the short shreds among the long shreds of the continuous stream of tobacco on the belt l0 and thereby determining the relative distribution of the long and short shreds along the cigarette rod R formed by showering the mixture M upon the cigarette wrapper strip P and folding and sealing the latter thereon. The shorts may thus be confined substantially to'the central portion of the cigarette rod R so formed, as shown in Fig. 3. I

Between the roll 21 and the winnowing device, a batlle plate 29 is arranged to block any ,shorts which may be flung off the feed roll 21, and thus prevent egress of the same from the winnowing device before their admixture with. the long shreds of tobacco T. Plate 29 is mounted on a bar 30 which also carries a comb 3| arranged to press the sheet of long shred tobacco against they feed drum 6. In order to prevent clogging of the shorts S within the, hopper I9, a number ofagitating rods 32 stir the mass of shorts constantly. Rods'32 are fastened to a horizontal slide-bar 33 reciprocably mounted in bearings 34; Bar 33 carries also a cam bowl 35 engaging in a camtrack 36 of a cam, 3| loosely mounted on a stud 38 held by a bearing bracket 39. I To cam 3'l is attached a gear 40, Fig. 2, constantly driven by means of a gear train 4| operated from the main drive of the cigarette machine. 8

Referring now to Fig. 4, it will be seen that the teeth of comb 8 bear against the sheet of tobacco on the drum 6 in the spaces between the rows of carding thereon and terminate short of the point where the picker pins engage the sheet. The bar on which the comb 81s fastenfid m y be p voted in the sides of the tobacco feed housing and spring-tensioned in a well known manner to yieldingly hold the teeth of comb 8 against the sheet. Comb 3|, however, issupported by the bar 30 fixed in the sides of the tobacco feed housing, and its teeth are disposed to overlie the rows of carding on the drum 6 and extend between the picker pins I! as the latter sweep over the periphery of the drum 6. With this arrangement of the combs 8 and 3| any unusually large lumps of tobacco torn off the sheet on drum 6 by the picker pins will be retained by the teeth of comb 3| and thereby be torn into smaller fragments. Since the presence of lumps in the stream of tobacco deposited on the apron I0 is thus obviated, it will be apparent that the formation of hard spots in the cigarette rod, due to such lumps, will be avoided.

. As the mode of operation of the improved tobacco feed has been described in connection with the various parts of the feed, it need not be further described, and is omitted in the interest of brevity.

What is claimed is:

1. In a cigarette machine tobacco feed, the combination with a source of supply for long shred tobacco, of a source of supply for short shred tobacco, a traveling endless belt, mechanism for removing the long and short shreds from their respective sources of supply and commingling them and depositing the commingled shreds upon said belt in the form of a continuous stream of tobacco, and means for showering the commingled shreds from said stream on to a continuous Wrapper strip, whereby a thorough distribution of the-short shreds among the long shreds of the tobacco showered upon the wrapper strip Will be obtained.

2. In a cigarette machine tobacco feed, the combination with a source of supply for long shred tobacco, of a source of supply for short shred tobacco, a traveling endless belt, mechanism for removing the long and. short shreds from their respective sources of supply and commingling them and depositing the commingled shreds upon said belt in the form of a continuous stream, and means for showering the commingled shreds from said stream on to a continuous wrapper strip, said mechanism including a winnower for commingling the long and short shreds and separating undesirable pieces of tobacco and foreign matter from the commingled shreds, Whereby a thorough distribution of the short shreds among the long shreds of the tobacco showered upon the wrapper strip will be obtained and both the long and short shreds will be freed of undesirable pieces of tobacco and foreign matter while being winnowed. v

3. In a cigarette machine tobacco feed, the combination with a source of supply for long shred tobacco, of a source of supply for short shred tobacco, a traveling endless belt, mechanism for removing the long and short shreds from their respective sources of supply and commingling them and depositing the commingled shredsupon said belt in the form of a continuous stream, and means for showering the commingled shreds' from said stream on to a continuous wrapper strip, said mechanism including a winnower for commingling the long and short shreds and separating undesirable pieces of tobacco and foreign matter from the commingled shreds, whereby a thorough distribution of the short shreds among the long shreds of the tobacco showered upon the wrapper strip will be obtained and both the long and short shreds will be freed of undesirable pieces of tobacco and foreign matter while being winnowed', said source of supply for short shreds including a hopper having side walls which may be adjusted to vary the dispersion of the short shreds in the stream of tobacco on said endless belt and thus govern the distribution of the short shreds among the long shreds of the tobacco showered upon said Wrapper strip.

4. In a cigarette machine tobacco feed, the combination with a source of supply for long shred tobacco, of a source of supply for short shred tobacco, a traveling endless belt, mechanism for removing the long and short shreds from their respective sources of supply and commingling them and depositing the commingled shreds upon said belt in the form of a continuous stream, and means for showering the commingled shreds from said stream on to a continuous wrapper strip, said mechanism including a winnower for commingling the long and short shreds and separating undesirable pieces of tobacco and foreign matter from the commingled shreds, whereby a thorough distribution of the short shreds among the long shreds of the tobacco showered upon the wrapper strip will be obtained and both the long and short shreds will be freed of undersirable pieces of tobacco and foreign matter while being winnowed, said mechanism including a carded feed drum rotating in said source of long shred tobacco to pick up long shreds in the form of a sheet on its periphery, and said winnower having blades provided with picker pins on the ends of its blades adapted to pick the sheet of long shreds from said feed drum, a concave underlying said winnower, and a carded feed r011 arranged at the outlet of said source of short shred tobacco to remove short shreds therefrom and deposit them between the blades of said winnower, so that the short shreds will be commingled with the long shreds on said concave and the commingled shreds will be directed by said concave in trajectories different from the undesirable pieces of tobacco and foreign matter while being propelled by said winnower, to effect a separation of the undesirable pieces of tobacco and foreign matter from the commingled shreds.

5. The combination with a source of supply for long shred tobacco, of a source of supply for short shred tobacco, a traveling endless surface, and mechanism for removing the long and short shreds from their respective sources of supply and commingling them and then depositing the commingled shreds upon said surface in the form of a continuous stream of tobacco.

6. The combination with a source of supply for long shred tobacco, of a source of supply for short shred tobacco, and mechanism for removing the long and short shreds from their respective sources of supply and simultaneously commingling and winnowing them.

'7. The combination with a source of supply for long shred tobacco, of asource of supply for short shred tobacco, and mechanism for removing the long and short shreds from their respective sources of supply and commingling them and depositing the commingled shreds, said mechanism including a winnower for commingling the long and short shreds and separating undesirable pieces of tobacco and foreign matter from the commingled shreds, whereby both the long and short shreds will be freed of undesirable pieces of tobacco and foreign matter while being commingled.

8. The combination with a source of supply for long shred tobacco, of a source of supply for short shred tobacco, and mechanism for removing the long and short shreds from their respective sources cfsupply and commingling them and depositing the commingled shreds, said source of supply for short shreds including a hopper having side walls which may be adjusted to vary the. dispersion of the short shreds among the long shreds.

9. The combination with a source of supply for long shred tobacco, of a source of supply for short shred tobacco, and mechanism for removing the long and short shreds from their respective sources of supply and commingling them and de-' positing the commingled shreds, said mechanism including. a carded feed drum rotating in said source of long shred tobacco to. pick up long shreds in the form of a sheet on its periphery, a bladed winnower provided with pickerpins on the ends of its blades adapted to pick the sheet of long shreds from said feed drum, a concave underlying said winnower, and a carded feed roll arranged at the outlet of said source of short shred tobacco to remove short shreds therefrom and deposit them between the blades of said winnower so that the short shreds will be commingled with the long shreds on said concave and the commingled shreds will be directed by said concave in trajectories different from the undesirable pieces of tobacco and foreign matter while being propelled by said winnower, to effect a separation of the undesirable pieces of tobacco and foreign matter from the. commingled shreds.

10-. A source of supply for short shred tobacco comprising a hopper having an outlet, a carded feed roll arranged at the outlet of said hopper to remove tobacco therefrom and deposit it therebelow, and means for agitating the mass of short shred tobacco in said hopper, said hopper having adjustable side walls to permit regulating of the dispersion of the tobacco deposited by said feed roll, said means including a bar passing through said walls, rods on said bar adapted to agitate the mass of tobacco in the hopper, andmechanism for reciprocating said bar endwise.

11. The combination with a source of supply for long shred tobacco, of a source of supply for short shred tobacco, and mechanism for removing long and short shreds from their respective sources of supply, said mechanism including a carded feed drum rotating in said source of long shred tobacco to pick up a sheet thereof on its periphery, a device for picking the sheet of long shreds from said feed drum, andmeans for removing short shred tobacco from its source of supply and .depositing it upon said picking device to be commingled with the long shreds picked from said feed drum.

12. The combination with a source of supply for long shred tobacco, of a source of supply for short shred tobacco, a traveling endless surface, and mechanism for removing the long and short shreds from their respective sources of supply and depositing the shreds upon said surface in the form of a continuous stream of tobacco, said mechanism including a rotary bladed fan extending transversely of said surface, and means for removing tobacco from said short shred supply and depositing it between the blades of said fan, whereby short shred tobacco will be distributed. over said surface by said fan.

13. The combination with a source of supply for long shred tobacco, of a source of supply for short shred tobacco, a traveling endless surface, and mechanism for removing long and short shreds of tobacco from their respective sources of supply and depositing them upon said surface in the form of a continuous stream of tobacco, said source of supply for short shred tobacco in-@ cluding a hopper arranged above said surface and having an outlet, and means arranged at the outlet of said hopper to remove tobacco therefrom and deposit it therebelow, said hopper having adjustable side walls to permit regulation of the dispersion of the tobacco deposited by said means and confinement of the short shred tobacco in said stream to a section intermediate its sides.

14. The combination with a source of supply of shredded tobacco, of a feed drum having spaced circumferential rows of carding on its periphery and rotating in said source of supply to cause said carding to pick up a sheet of tobacco on the periphery of the drum, a rotary picker provided with picker pins arranged to engage said sheet of tobacco between said rows of carding and remove the same from the drum, a primary comb provided with teeth arranged to bear against said sheet between said rows of carding and terminating short of the points of engagement of the picker pins with the sheet, and a secondary comb provided with teeth arranged to extend between said picker pins as they sweep over the periphery of said drum and retain any unusually large lumps of tobacco torn from the sheet by the picker pins and thereby cause the lumps to be torn into smaller fragments.

15. The combination with a source of supply of shredded tobacco, of a feed drunr having spaced circumferential rows of carding on its periphery and rotating in said source of supply to cause said carding to pick up a sheet of tobacco on the periphery of the drum, a rotary picker provided with picker pins arranged to engage said sheet of tobacco between said rows of. carding and remove the same from the drum, a primary comb provided with teeth arranged to bear against said sheet between said rows of carding and terminating short of the points of engagement of the picker pins with the sheet, and a secondary comb provided with teeth arranged to extend between said picker pins as they sweep over the periphery of said drum and retain any unusually large lumps of tobacco torn from the sheet by the picker pins and thereby cause the lumps to be torn into smaller fragments, the teeth of said secondary comb being disposed to overlie said rows of carding.

16. In a cigarette machine feed, the combination with a source of supply for long shred tobacco, of a source of supply for short shred tobacco, and mechanism for removing long and short shreds of tobacco from their respective sources of supply and depositing them in a layer consisting of a mixture of long and short shred tobacco, said source of supply for short shred tobacco including a hopper having adjustable side walls to permit varying of the dispersion of the short shred tobacco in said layer and confinement of the short shred tobacco to a central section of said layer or to a section adjacent either side of said layer.

,17. In a cigarette machine feed, the combination with a source of supply for long shred tobacco, of a source of supply for short shred .tobacco, mechanism for removing long and short shreds of tobacco from their respective sources of supply and depositing them in a layer consisting of a mixture of long and short shred tobacco, said source of supply for short shred tobacco including a hopper having adjustable side walls to permit varying of the dispersion of the short shred tobacco in said layer and confinement of the short shred tobacco to a central section of said layer or to a section adjacent either side of said layer, and means for showering said layer on a web of cigarette paper moving transversely thereof, whereby adjustment of said walls will permit a composite strata of short and long shred tobacco to be formed at the bottom, top or middle of the windrow of tobacco deposited on the cigarette paper.

I 18. The combination with a source of supply of long shred tobacco, of a source of supply of short shred tobacco, a cigarette machine feed chute, a traveling apron for delivering tobacco to said feed chute, mechanism for removing the long shreds from their source of supply and delivering them onto said apron, and mechanism for removing short shreds from their source of supply and delivering them on said apron, said source of supply for short shreds including a hopper having a side wall which may be adjusted to vary the width and position of the stream of short shreds delivered onto said apron.

19. In a continuous rod cigarette machine, the combination with a source of supply for long shred tobacco, of a source of supplyfor short shred tobacco, a cigarette machine feed chute adapted to shower tobacco on to a web of cigarette paper moving lengthwise thereof, a traveling surface moving transversely of said chute for delivering a stream of tobacco thereto, means for removing a broad stream of long shreds from its source of supply and winnowing and continuously depositing said broad stream across the width of said surface, and means for removing a narrower stream of short shreds from its source of supply and continuously delivering saidnarrower stream on a section of the width of said surface.

20. In a continuous rod cigarette machine, the combination with a source of supply for long shred tobacco, of a source of supply for short shred tobacco, a cigarette machine feed chute adapted to shower tobacco on to a web of cigarette paper moving lengthwise thereof, a traveling surface moving transversely of said chute for delivering a stream of tobacco thereto, and mechanism for removing a broad stream of long shred tobacco from its source of supply and depositing said broad stream across the width of said surface and removing a narrower stream of short shreds from its source of supply and continuously delivering said narrower stream on a section of the width of said surface coincident with said stream of long shred tobacco.

JAMES W. LEARY. 

